A Guide for the Statistically Perplexed: Selected Readings for Clinical Researchers

by David L. Streiner

Do statistics-heavy research papers give you a headache? Are you baffled by bias, confused by correlation, or flummoxed by F-tests? A Guide for the Statistically Perplexed is here to help! This book is designed to assist students, clinicians, and researchers in becoming familiar with statistical and research techniques by covering the essentials of the topic and drawing attention to many common problem areas. Inspired to write on this topic in reaction to mistakes he encountered in actual papers, David L. Streiner uses his trademark sense of humour and light-hearted style to explain complex statistical concepts in lucid, jargon-free language. Streiner delves into topics such as presenting data (or, conversely, how not to), statistical techniques, and more advanced procedures. To help readers detect problems with research design and interpretation, he details important 'CRAP' (convoluted reasoning or anti-intellectual pomposity) detectors for which they should watch out. Even those with little or no background in statistics, measurement theory, or research will come out of A Guide for the Statistically Perplexed with a new understanding and appreciation of these topics.

396 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2012

About the author

Dr. Streiner was trained in Clinical Psychology, and received his Ph.D. in 1968 from Syracuse University . He joined the Psychiatry Department of McMaster University upon graduation.

His primary research interests are, broadly speaking, the psychological effects of medical disorders and treatments, and applying psychological ways of thinking to other areas. Most important, on-going research, though, is exploring the relative merits of oak versus rock maple for making furniture and kids' toys.